I will have to disagree, A 2 piece 12 wide wheel is just fine. It is true that a 12 wide hoop is not available at this time. How ever we have sold count less set in 12+ widths with out 1 issue. The statement that was made about a 2 piece wheel being widened is not the way you want to go is just hog wash.
A widened wheel is just fine. All the major wheel manufactures offer this service, Including Boze.
Hell Weld Craft makes a living at widening wheels. And I have yet to see one widened hoop ever have an issue.
Hope this clears the air of misconceptions.
Tim

I had 2 pc. wheels that were widened on a lifted truck with 35's. I towed an 8,500 pound toy hauler numerous times along with the bed full of gear and firewood with no problems at all.

I would think if a widened wheel can hold up to weight like that, it would be more than OK on a pro-touring camaro. DSE uses widened 2 pc. wheels for cars they build also.

I can't tell you how many two piece outers we've made, and had made in my years of doing wheels without one of them ever having a problem. There is a right way, to do it, and I've never once had a problem with them. We built countless 12's while I was at Budnik for customers like DSE, as well as in our Rushforth and Schott lines and not had one issue what so ever.

I have however had three piece wheels leak, regardless of what size they were....

I think it is more an issue of style & cost (read: your budget) that should probably determine your choice. Let me know if you need help with any of our brands....

Thanx guys .. I did'nt know that those were not three piece wheels.I want three piece. Frank has'nt steered me wrong yet.

Here is the problem. You take a 2 piece wheels that sell for lets say $2800 for 18 X 8 and 18 X 10, add $900 to $1000 to widen the rear 10" wheels to 12" and it makes those Frankenstein cut and welded wheels $3800. You are now in quality 3 piece wheels pricing territory.

So for the same money, or a few pennies more, you can get racing quality 3 piece wheels from a number of sources that are stronger and lighter then a wheel that has ben sliced and diced and had 2 big beads welded all the way around the rim shell, and has a center welded into it.

Compare the weight of a 2 piece welded wheels to a 3 piece wheels, it can be a big difference depending on the manufacturer of each wheel. But never will the 2 piece wheel be lighter then a quality 3 piece. And no way will the 2 piece wheel be as strong.

Structurally 2 piece wheels are fine, no disagreement there. Balancing..................2 piece wheels always take more weight. Every time we have mount 12" 2 piece wheels we spend lots of extra time dismounting, rotating the tire, re inflate, deflate, rotate tire. When you get a big / wide / heavy tire / rim combination like that. You can really throw some weight around. Tires are always off, I find 2 piece welded rims to be farther off then 3 piece. It does make common sense. Think about 2 big ole beads of weld around the outer most portion of the rim. That is weight. If a little extra or less material ends up in one spot......... If that slice is welded a couple thousands off........... Add a big heavy tire and it magnifies iany out of balance in a wheel.

Let's not even go into the the strength and serviceability of 3 piece wheels. Bend a rim shell, change it for a couple hundred bucks.

And the importance of wheel weight, or the lack there of, and where that weight is...........................that would be another novel!

And show me some high end super exotics that run 2 piece wheels? And Mario................Mario is building a super exotic!

I will still disagree to some point. Yes there is some added weight to a widened rim. But not enough to cause any balance issue. the 2 piece wheels even widened are much more cost effective than a three piece wheel. At least from us they are.
As for as craftsmanship goes I have yet to see any major wheel manufacturer send out a wheel that was of poor workman ship. And I would never say that a widened hoop is of the Frankenstein nature. As I said before a widened 2 piece wheel is just fine. never an issue with workman ship or strength.
I will say that weight of a 3 piece wheel is only slightly less. And would be an issue if your were building ....Say and F-1 car or something to that nature.But for a street car or even a car you auto cross from time to time. You will never know any difference. I can say I have never seen a new corvette with a factory 3 piece wheel and they seem to do just fine.
Tim

When 2-piece wheels are widened, they don't actually have 2 weld seams, only one near the middle. They don't take a 2" piece of aluminum and weld it in the middle, rather they use two rim halves that are cut so they all join where the center does. Essentially a 3-piece wheel that is welded instead of bolted.

I am not sure who is building the widened 2-piece wheels you have been getting, but this is not how most manufacturers do it.

Anyways, just wanted to throw this info out there. I am sure any wheel you go with will be fine and look great.

I like a three piece wheel just for the simple fact of flexibility. My rears had to be narrowed 1 inch to fit in my tubs. I also plan to widen my fronts 1.5 to run a 275 or 285. You ask why didn't you build them that way fro the start? Well the whole 345 rear was in it's infancy then and the DSE sub didn't come into play until after the wheels hit the ground. So......it allows you to make changes in the future at a lower cost. I wish I could leave well enough alone, but I can't.

Hey Frank, I wanted to weigh in on this subject if I may. I wanted to share some of the advantages of a true forged 3 piece wheel.

1. All of parts are made from 6061 aluminum heat treated to T6 specs which is used widely in the aerospace community. A majority of other manufactures both multi-piece and one piece wheels use a softer, non heat treated alloy.
2. Since this alloy is stronger, we can use a much thinner rim, decreasing the weight at the outermost part of the wheel, where it affects the inertia the most. We also take the time to machine out 40 spots in between each bolt hole to add to this effect.
3. Maximizing offset and width is easy with Forgeline 3-piece wheels. Whether you are building a professional race car or a super exotic G-Machine, you want to build a wheel that will fit exactly the way you designed it to. We have over 150 different rim shell sizes in stock from 17x1.0 all the way to 20x10 and everything in between. So, chances are we can build exactly what you need, with out welding or cutting or modifying the original spun rim halves.
4. Our wheels are also easily customizable. Since the inner rim half, center, and outer rim half all start out as independent pieces we can finish them separately without tape lines.
5. Another major feature of our 3-piece wheels is the reparability, and the ability to change the wheels as you change your vehicle. If you decide to widen the fenders or change tire sizes, you can swap out your rim shells for a fraction of the cost of a new wheel.
6. All of the parts going into a wheel will be spun and checked for trueness before assembly as well as after assembly as a completed wheel. This insures that every wheel we manufacture will be as close to perfectly round as possible, reducing the need for excess wheel weights.

Forgeline started out as a 2-piece wheel company and made welded 2 piece wheels for over 10 years. As tires and suspensions evolved over the years, we found that our 2 piece wheels did not hold up as well as our 3-piece, especially on the track. And about 5 years ago we made a conscious decision to make strictly 3-piece wheels based on the fact we could make a better product and have a lot more versatility. That does not mean 2 piece, or for that matter, any other type of wheel is unsafe or does not have place in the automotive community. I am just saying, based the large amounts of information over the years, we believe that a 3-piece wheel is the lightest, strongest and most versatile product we can make. And frankly, that is what we are all about.

Scott Main
Forgeline Motorsports

Todd only 345's how come so small:lol: